Nearly headless Sindh

In the absence of bosses, the Sindh government’s various departments suffer from bad governance

KARACHI:

Every body needs a sound head - someone that can keep it from lapsing into a state of anarchy. The Sindh government does not seem to think so. Perhaps that is the reason it has failed to function — the ‘bad governance’ that the province has been plagued with over the last several years.

The fact is that a large number of government departments and institutions are working without a boss to oversee their operations. Their charge has been given to those officers who were already looking after their own respective departments. This is perhaps the one major cause of the administrative anarchy in the province.

An official list available with The Express Tribune revealed that the post of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) administrator has been lying vacant since June, after Saqib Soomro fled abroad following reports of serious allegations of corruption against him. This position has since been rotated over four times, between various officers.

Currently, Karachi Commissioner Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui is looking after this coveted post, in addition to his primary job. The situation is worse at the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA), which is working without an administrative boss after its director-general, Manzoor Qadir Kaka, too fled abroad three months earlier, following a raid by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) at his office.

The SBCA’s day-to-day operations have come to a standstill as many officials do not even turn up to work out of fear. The Fishermen Cooperative Society (FCS) also shares the same fate. The chairperson, Nisar Morai, has left for greener pastures. The Rangers have arrested two of its directors, Rana Shahid and Muhammad Chachar, and its vice-chairperson, Sultan Qamar Siddique, over allegations of corruption, target killings and extortion. The charge of the society was given to the fisheries secretary, Noor Muhammad Leghari, but the provincial government’s decision was challenged in court. Ever since, there has been no incharge of the FCS.

According to the official list, there are scores of government departments that are slouching for want of heads, where the principal seats have been lying vacant for a while. These include the post of regional revenue officer of the directorate of inspection and evaluation, Larkana board of revenue Sindh. The charge is currently being held by Ahmed Sultan Khoso, a former PCS officer of BPS-19.

Lying vacant:

• Special education department’s additional secretary

• Culture, tourism and antiquities department’s additional secretary

• Managing director of the Sindh small industries corporation

• Project director of Gothabad scheme, Board of Revenue Sindh

• Additional secretary of special initiative, planning and development

• Additional secretary of land utilisation, board of revenue

• Additional secretary of information, science and technology

• Additional secretary of finance department

• Additional secretary of SII, services, general administration and

coordination department

• Managing director of SITE limited, Karachi

• Additional commissioner-1 of Karachi

• Environment special secretary

• Tourism special secretary

• Housing special secretary

• Special secretary to CM for local government department

• Special secretary of law department

• Member of the provincial election authority

• Deputy managing director (finance) of Karachi Water and Sewerage Board

• Deputy managing director of HRD, Karachi Water and Sewerage Board

• Managing director of Thar Coal Energy Board

• Director-general of Sindh Katchi Abadis Authority

• Director-general of Gorakh Hill Development Authority

• Karachi metropolitan commissioner

• Member of judicial board of revenue, Sindh,

• Chairperson of provincial election authority

• Secretary to provincial ombudsman’s secretariat

• Director of Sindh public procurement regulatory authority

• Director of economic reform unit, finance department

• Additional commissioner-one of Sukkur

• Regional revenue officer, directorate of inspection and

evaluation, Mirpurkhas, Board of Revenue, Sindh

• Additional secretary of sports and youth affairs development

department

• Regional revenue officer, directorate of inspection and

evaluation, Sukkur, Board of Revenue, Sindh

• Additional secretary of the industry and commerce department

• Director of women development department, Sindh

• Additional secretary of women development

• Director of Sindh civil services academy, Board of Revenue

• Provincial disaster management authority operations director

• Additional secretary of transport and mass transit department

• Director of Sindh Higher Education Commission

• Additional commissioner-one of Hyderabad

• Director of settlement and survey, Board of Revenue, Sindh

• Additional secretary of mines and minerals department

• Director-general of coastal development authority

• Managing director of Seed Corporation

• Director-general of Sindh local government commission, Hyderabad

• Additional secretary of excise and taxation department

Published in The Express Tribune, August 17^th, 2015.